CTB, which sells feeders and stalls under the PigTek and Chore-Time Hog brands, has expanded abroad since the Berkshire takeover by buying businesses in Israel, Germany and the Netherlands. Chief Executive Officer Victor Mancinelli, who convinced Buffett to buy the firm seven years ago, is making “excellent returns,” according to the Berkshire annual letter to shareholders published this year.

“Over the next 100 years we’re going to have some bad farm years and we’re going to have some bad years in the economy,” Buffett said in the address, which was posted on CTB’s Web site and labeled September. “But just look at the progress we’ve made over time. And I hope you’re doing more of the same.”

Buffett, 79, has responded to the U.S. recession by cutting manufacturing jobs and closing facilities. He oversees businesses ranging from insurance and ice cream to corporate jets and power plants. Profit from the firm’s “other manufacturing” units, such as CTB, paint-maker Benjamin Moore and apparel company Fruit of the Loom, fell 18 percent to $1.68 billion in 2008.

Buffett didn’t respond to a request for comment sent in an e-mail to assistant Carrie Kizer.

CTB’s Earnings

Berkshire’s acquisition of CTB was valued at $177 million, according to Bloomberg data. Six years later, in 2008, the unit produced pretax earnings of $89 million, Buffett said in the annual letter. CTB bought six companies in the interim, including Swine Services Specialists Inc. and Porcon group of Deurne, the Netherlands...MORE